Complementary musical instrument for ordinary piano making possible the interpretation of all the pieces written originally for organ



Sept. 17, 1963 A. M. NASSAR 3,103,848

COMPLEMENTARY MUSICAL INSTRUMENT FOR ORDINARY PIANO MAKING POSSIBLE THE INTERPRETATION OF ALL THE PIEOEs WRITTEN ORIGINALLY FOR ORGAN Filed June 10, 1959 ..-r.- L I; I IN 74 f 4/ INVENTOR /0 Anfodwe M. Nasser 34 MM at ZA/TSTORNEYJ' United States Patent 3,103,848 CQMPLEMENTARY MUSICAL INSTRUMENT FOR ORDINARY PIANO MAKING POSSIBLE THE IN- TERPRETATEQN OF ALL THE PIECES WRITTEN ORIGINALLY FQR ORGAN Antoine Maroun Nassar, R0. Box 3053, Beirut, Lebanon Filed June 10, 1959, Ser. No. 819,265 4 Claims. (Cl. 84-448) This invention relates to musical instruments of the type in which tensioned wires are struck by hammers, said hammers being actuated by movement of pedals or keys by escapement or lever mechanism.

Further the invention relates to musical instruments, such as pianofortes and harpsichords, in which a series of hammers are so arranged that at the will of the musician they strike a bank of wires or strings which are tuned to vibrate at different frequencies.

Musical instruments such as the organ have a difierent inherent construction to pianofortes and harpsichords, and because of this difference are capable of producing greater differences in the shades of sound by combining together two or more notes of a chord or two or more notes in octaves on depression of a single pedal or key. This combining together of two or more notes is a characteristic feature of the organ and may be achieved at the will of the musician by the operation of stops.

In view of the difference between the inherent construction of pianofor-tes and organs, it has previously been impossible to play on the pianoforte, music written specifically for the organ without recourse to a transcription. However, almost invariably, if a transcription of organ music is made for the pianoforte, it is not possible faithfully to reproduce the original work,'and various sacrifices in shades of sound are inevitable.

It is the main object of this invention to provide a musical instrument in which music originally written for the organ may be played directly on the pianoforte.

According to the present invention there is provided a musical instrument of the type specified, wherein two or more wires are provided for each note, at least one wire being tuned to a given frequency, and at least one further Wire being tuned at an interval to that frequency. Preferably said further wire or wires are tuned to an octave above the said frequency.

A further feature of the invention resides in providing a musical instrument, wherein two or more wires are provided for each note, at least one of said wires being tuned to an octave above the fundamental frequency of the other wire or wires in which the associated hammer is arranged to alternatively strike only the fundamentally tuned wire or wires, or all the wires together.

In order that the invention may readily be carried into practice the construction of an instrument according thereto will now be described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings by way of example only, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a piano type instrument constructed according to the invention and having par-ts broken away and in section for clarity; and

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are diagrams showing various positions of one set of strings or wires in relation to their associated hammer.

Referring first to FIG. 1 which shows a musical instrument having a sounding box 1 so constructed that part thereof forms a seat 2 for the musician. Arranged within the sounding box 1 are a series of wires or strings 3 which are struck by a bank of hammers, one of which is shown at 4 in FIG. 1. These hammers are each connected by an escapement mechanism or a lever arrangement 5 known per se, to a pedal or key 6 which may be depressed by the musicians foot and rocked about a pivot 7 so that the associated hammer will strike the wire or wires or strings 3.

The musical instrument as described may be used as such or it may be used in association with a conventional pianoforte, the height of the key board of the pianoforte being indicated in chain dotted lines at 8, FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 to 4 which show the series of wires or strings 3 together with their associated or common hammer 4 in diagrammatic representation. In this particular example for each hammer there are three associated wires or strings 9, 1d and 11 and of the three Wires or strings 3, two of these wires 9 and 10 are tuned to the fundamental frequency required to be produced, and the third wire 11 is tuned to an octave above. this fundamental frequency. However, if desired, the third wire 11 may be tuned to any intermediate interval above the fundamental frequency of wires 9 and it), although octave tuning is the most desirable.

The construction is such that each hammer 4 may be moved laterally by suitable means, not shown, with respect to its associated or adjacent strings in the manner shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 so that it may alternatively strike only one Wire as shown in FIG. 2 to produce a quiet note, both fundamentally tuned wires as shown in FIG. 3 to produce a deep round note, or all three wires together as shown in FIG. 4 to give the organ effect. To achieve this end a stop or similar mechanism may be provided for operation by the musician so that at Will the various shades of sound may be produced.

The shifting of each hammer 4- may be accomplished for example by mechanical connections readily within reach of the musician as for instance shown in the British patent to Subers, No. 15,220 of 1891.

It will be appreciated that the construction of the musical instrument may be modified as desired Within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims, for example the instrument may not in effect form a seat, and actuation of the hammers may be achieved through any other desirable mechanism.

What I claims is:

1. A musical pedal instrument of the type specified, fully independent in its functioning as complementary instrument to the conventional pianoforte, comprising bass strings, to play the musical part reserved for the pedal in organic music, a common hammer and at least two wires provided for each note, one of the said wires being tuned to an octave above the fundamental frequency of the other wire, and when the common hammer is shifted alternatively only one fundamentally tuned wire is struck at one time and the wires together in a further shifted position.

2. A musical pedal instrument of the type specified, fully independent in its functioning; as complementary instrument to the conventional pianoforte, comprising bass strings, to play the musical part reserved for the pedal in organ music, three wires, and an associated hammer shiftable to strike one Wire and two wires and three wires with the third wire being tuned to an octave above the frequency of the first two wires.

3. A musical pedal instrument of the type specified, fully independent in its functioning as complementary instrument to the conventional pianoforte, comprising bass strings, to play the musical part reserved for the pedal in organ music, two wires for each note and a third wire for said note tuned at a frequency of one octave above the frequency of the said two wires.

4. A musical pedal instrument of the type specified, fully independent in its functioning as complementary instrument to the conventional pianofore, comprising bass strings, to play the musical part reserved for the pedal in ongan music, when the play is by octavo with a References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 10,776 Hall Apr. 11, 1854 577,752 Hoerr Feb. 23, 1897 10 1,236,435 Holden Aug. '14, 1917 FOREIGN PATENTS 4,068 Great Britain 1816 13,741 Germany Sept. 14, 1880 15,221 Great Britain Oct. 10, 1891 15 23,943 Austria Apr. 25, 1906 

1. A MUSICAL PEDAL INSTRUMENT OF THE TYPE SPECIFIED, FULLY INDEPENDENT IN ITS FUNCTIONING AS COMPLEMENTARY INSTRUMENT TO THE CONVENTIONAL PIANOFORTE, COMPRISING BASS STRINGS, TO PLAY THE MUSICAL PART RESERVED FOR THE PEDAL IN ORGANIC MUSIC, A COMMON HAMMER AND AT LEAST TWO WIRES PROVIDED FOR EACH NOTE, ONE OF THE SAID WIRES BEING TUNED TO AN OCTAVE ABOVE THE FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY OF THE OTHER WIRE, AND WHEN THE COMMON HAMMER IS SHIFTED ALTERNATIVELY ONLY ONE FUNDAMENTALLY TUNED WIRE IS STRUCK AT ONE TIME AND THE WIRES TOGETHER IN A FURTHER SHIFTED POSITION. 